Fish-screen gate



may 6,319.24.

1,493,405 G. A. TucKr-IELD FISH SCREEN GATE Filed Jan. 5, 1921 PatentedMay 6, 1924.

sA'rrs orio GEORGE A. TUGKFIELD, or Kansasl Grrr, Mrssounr.'

FISH-SCREENGATE.

Application led January A3, 1921. Serial No. 434,860.

T all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GnoRenA. TUCK- rin-Ln, citizen of the UnitedStates,and resident of Kansas City, county of Jackson,

State of Missouri, have invented a certain same time any dbris whichcollects at the screen is allowed to pass along with the current.

construction which ,comprises a pivoted screen frame having a paddlewheel or roller acrossl its lower margin and rotating with the watercurrent, the screen frame being so pivoted as to swing after. a certainhead or pressure has been reached, due to the collec-vk tion of thedbris at the base of the screen, and allow said dbris to pass outbeneath the screen. i

l/Vith thisy general object in view, theinvention will now be describedby reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating one form ofconstruction which I have devised for embodying the proposedimprovements, after which the novel features therein will beparticularly set forth and claimed.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating a portion ofa flume, provided with a fish screen gate constructed in accordance withthe present invention; y

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same;

Figure 3 is an endview of the apparatus;

Figure 4; is a detail perspective view, illustrating an adjustablepaddle construction.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, this illustrates the improvedfish screen gate in relation to a flume 5, such as is employed fordiverting water from a main stream, either for irrigation or powerpurposes. At one point in this flume, as at the mouth thereof, I providea pair of uprights 6, to the upper ends of'which is pivotally connecteda swinging screen frame 7, having the trunnion elements 8 journaled inthe upper ends o-f the upright members 6. The screen frame 7 is adaptedfor the sup-port of a screen panel 9 extending 'across ythe" passagewlthin the flume 5, in additionto which the sides of the frame 7 areextended' downwardly for the purpose of journaling ai '60 shaft 10 whichcarries a roller or` wheel made up of a series ofpaddle elements 12.' *l

alternating with a 'series of ring'members'` 14. The paddle Wheel isJthus adaptedtof.:

rotate beneath thescreen panel 9 under the action of the water flow,forallowingthe passage of any light dbris without involv-` lng anyswinging movement' of the screen frame `7.

The upper kedge of the screen provided with a bracket for -securing to Yl j said frame a pair of'arms 16, 17, the arm. Accordingly I havedevised an improvedv 16 projecting forwardly and downwardly, while theother arm 17 is inclined'rearwardly from the `top of the frame 7, asclearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. These arms are designed for ythesupport of afoounterweight member 18 having a hanger 19 .forjournaling aroller 20, whereby the counter-Y weight 18 is adaptedfor rolling travelalong either of the arms 16 and 17, each of which' is provided withaseries of openings/21 for,

receiving a `Stop pin 22 for appropriately limiting the outward travelof the weight; 18. lVhen carried by the arm 16, the coun-f terweight l18is adapted for maintaining the 'frame 7" isA screen frame 7 normally insubstantial rvertical position at the. mouth of the Hume;by suitablyvarying the position of the weight along the arm 16, .it is apparentthatthe leverage exerted 4thereby upon the screen `frame maybe regulatedvfor vvarying the amount of pressure required to: force the` screenframe 7i outwardly into theposition:4v

represented by the broken lines in Figure 2. lThis is for the purpose ofvaryingzthe extent to which the dbris is perinitted'to accumulate at therear of the screen before the .latteris'allowed to. open for permittingthe passage of the dbris out beneath the paddle Wheel. i

In Figure 2 of the drawing, the weight 18 is positioned upon theforwardly extended arm 16, so thatl the weight thereof operates to holdthe screen and the paddle wheel in substantially vertical position withthe wheel opposite the ledge 24 formed in the bottom of the fiumepassage adjacent the paddle wheel.

It will be understood that any light debris such as leaves or othersmall articles will simply be carried along with the water flow withoutany material opposition, but that larger dbris such as logs, branchesEand trees, or other matter which will not readily pass through therestricted space aro-und the bottomY of the device, will simply collectuntil a; sufficient water head or pressure is exerted for forcing thescreen gate to swing outward, whereupon all the dbris will be swept outof the mouth of the flume during the momentary opening of the screengate, which immediately drops back into its normal position.;l In thisoperation the arm 16 moves from forwardly inclined position into arearwardly inclined position, which causes the weight to gravitate downthe incline into the position shown in lligureY 2, thereby resulting ina freer swinging movement of the gate after the action of theycounterweight has once been overcome. In the event that a still freerswinging action of the gate is desired, itV will be understood that theweight is simply transferred tonthe rea-r arm 1.7, in which position theweight simply operates to increase the tendency of the gate toswingropen, response to.a relatively smaller pressure due to thecollectionY of dbris. In case the weight is used upon arm 17, itseffective action willY be regulatedv by simply adjustingy the positionof the stop pin 22, with the result that the swinging tendency of theswing gate is correspondingly varied.

In Figure 4, 1 illustrates a modified form of construction of the paddlewheel, in which the paddle or blade elements T12 are adjustably securedupon the spokes 2G of fthe wheel, by means of clamping bolts 25, for thepurpose of adjusting the action of the wheel, simply by varying theposition of said paddles or blades 12 with reference to the axis l0 ofthe wheel.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have 5devised acomparatively simple and eflicient construction for carrying out thedesired object of the invention, of preventing the fish from going downwith the current of the stream, while at the same time, allowing of thedbris to pass a given point. While I have illustrated and described whatI now regard as the preferred form of construction, I desire to reservethe right to make all changes or modifications about a horizontal axiscoinciding with the upper edge portion of said frame, an arm rigid withsaid frame and projecting laterally from the upper margin thereof, and ai weight adapted for rolling travel along said arm for automaticallyvarying the leverage of said weight in the different positions of saidarm. i'

4. A. fish screen gate comprising a frame pivotally mounted fo-rswinging movement about a horizontal coinciding with the upper edgeportion of said frame, an arm rigid with said Y frame and projectinglaterally from the upper; margin thereof, a weight adapted for rollingtravel along said arm for automatically varying the leverage of saidweight in the different positions of said arm, and an adjustable stopdevicey for limiting the outward travel of said weight.

5. A fish screen gate comprising a pivotally mount-ed frame, a screenpanel. carried by said frame, a downwardly inclined arm carried by saidframe, anda weight adapted to travel along sai'd arm to automaticallyvary the leverage of the weight during the swinging of said arm.

6. A fish screen gate comprising a pivotally mounted frame, a screenpanel carried by said frame, a pair of arms projecting in oppositedirections from the opposite faces of said frame, and a weight adaptedto be associated with either o said arms to vary the swinging tendencyof said frame.

In witness whereof I afix my signature.

GEORGE A. 'IIUCKFIELD

